Jay M. Pasachoff, Magda Stavinschi, Mary Kay Hemenway
International Astronomical Union
Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy
University of Texas at Austin, USA
History of Astronomy
© 2010 Jay M. Pasachoff
1 Introduction
The history of astronomy is vast and complex and can not be summarized in a single talk. Therefore, we present only a few topics:
the heliocentric concept of the universe
some astronomical
knowledge from several great cultures and civilizations of the past
2 Astronomy from the ancient Greeks
The planets appear to move slowly in one direction (from West to East) with respect to the background stars: direct movement.
But sometimes, a planet moves in the opposite
direction (from East to West) with respect to the stars:
retrograde motion
2 Astronomy from the ancient Greeks
The ancient Greeks
made theoretical models of the universe in order to explain the movement of the planets.
To compare the duration of the retrograde motion of the planets, they
ordered the celestial bodies with regards to distance.
2 Astronomy from the ancient Greeks
Aristotle (350 BC) thought the Earth was definitely the center of the universe, and the planets, the Sun, and the stars revolved around Earth.
According to Aristotle, the universe consisted of a set of 55 celestial spheres that are fitted one inside the other
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2 Astronomy from the ancient Greeks
The natural movement of each sphere was the rotation. The planets moved in some of the spheres and the movement of each sphere affect the other. Retrograde motion could be explained in this way.
The outermost sphere corresponds to
fixed stars. Outside this sphere, it was "the primary mechanism" causes the rotation of the stars.
Aristotle's theory dominated scientific thought for 1800 years, up to the
Renaissance, and prevented that scientific work would consider new models.
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2 Astronomy from the ancient Greeks
Around 140 A.D., the Greek scientist Claudio Ptolomy of Alexandria
presented a detailed theory of the
universe that explained the retrograde movement.
Ptolemy’s model was geocentric (Earth in the Center), as was
Aristotle's. To explain the retrograde motion of the planets, he conceived the planets traveling along small
circles that move about larger circles of general orbits of planets.
2 Astronomy from the ancient Greeks
To explain the retrograde movement, Ptolomy proposed that the planets traveled in small circles called epicycles; the larger circles are called deferents.
The center of an epicycle moves with a constant angular velocity relative to the point called the Equant.
As it was believed that the circles were perfect forms, it seemed logical that planets should follow circles in their movements.
2 Astronomy from the ancient Greeks
Ptolemy’s most important work the Almagest (translation: the greatest) were accepted for nearly 15 centuries, and
contained not only his ideas but also a summary of the ideas of his predecessors
His tables of planetary movements were reasonably accurate considering the era.
3 The sun-centered universe
In the 16th century Nicolás Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, suggested a heliocentric theory (with the Sun in the Center)
Aristarcus of Samos, a Greek scientist, suggested the
heliocentric theory 18 centuries before Copernicus. We do not know, however, that early theory in detail.
3 The Sun-centered universe
Copernicus assumes that the planets move in circles,
though the circles were not exactly focused on the Sun.
Copernicus used some
epicycles in order that their predictions were better
consistent with observations (and eliminated the equant.)
3 The Sun-centered universe
This model explained the retrograde motion of the outer planets (as Mars) by projection effect:
As Earth overtakes Mars, the projection of the line joining the Earth and Mars, shows an apparent movement of recoil among the stars, contrary to the actual direction of movement.
Then, as Earth and Mars are still moving in its orbit, the projection of the line that joins the two planets seems to move again in the real sense of the movement.
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3 The sun-centered universe
With the idea that the Sun was approximately in the center of the Solar system, Copernicus:
Computed the
relative distances of the planets scaled to Earth-Sun distance.
Inferred the time for each planet to orbit the Sun from observations.
4 The sharp eyes of Tycho Brahe
In the latter part of the 16th century, not long after the death of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, a Danish nobleman began to
observe Mars and other celestial bodies to improve their predictions of the positions from his
observatory Uraniborg
4 The sharp eyes of Tycho Brahe
Since the telescope not had yet been invented, Tycho used
giant observing instruments that had no precedent in terms of accuracy.
Following Tycho’s death in 1601, after some battles to
access them, Johannes Kepler obtained the data.
5 Johannes Kepler and his Laws
The new, more reliable and precise observations of Tycho showed that the tables of the
positions of the planets, in use at that time, were not very accurate.
Tycho hired Kepler in 1600 to do detailed calculations to explain the planetary positions.
First, Kepler tried to explain the orbit of Mars using circles, then other shapes, before he found the answer.
5 Kepler’s First Law
The Kepler’s first law, published in 1609, says that the planets orbit around the Sun in
ellipses, with the Sun at one focus.
5a Kepler’s First Law
The separation between the foci and a given length of string defines an
ellipse.
The shape of the ellipse can be changed if you change the length of the string or the distance
between the foci.
5b Kepler’s Second Law
Describes the speed with which the planets travel in their orbits:
a line joining a planet with the Sun describes equal areas in equal times.
This is also known as the law of equal areas.
5b Kepler’s Second Law
Kepler's second law is especially useful for the comets, which present highly eccentric
elliptical orbits (i.e., flattened).
For example, he showed that the Comet
Halley is moving much more slowly when it is
far away from the Sun, since the line that joins
it to the Sun is very long.
5c Kepler’s Third Law
Kepler's third law relates the period with a measure of the distance of the planet to the Sun.
Specifically, says that the square of the period of revolution is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of the ellipse : P
2= kR
3, where k is a constant
That is, if the cube of the semi-major axis of the ellipse increases, the square of the period increases by the same factor.
5c Kepler’s Third Law
A terrestrial application of Kepler's third law is in
"geostationary satellites" which are at a distance where their
orbital period is same as Earth’s rotational period. They remain always above the same spot on Earth.
They seem that they float above the Equator (see picture, left), and they are used to relay signals for TV and telephone.
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6 The fall of the Ptolemaic model:
Galileo Galilei
In late 1609 Galileo was the first to use a
telescope for systematic astronomical studies.
6 The fall of the Ptolemaic model:
Galileo Galilei
In 1610, he published observations from his telescope: many more stars than one could see with the unaided eye.
The Milky Way contained numerous individual stars.
Mountains, craters and dark lunar "seas” on the Moon
4 small bodies that orbit Jupiter (this proved that not all the bodies revolve around the Earth)
In addition, the 4 moons were not "left behind" while Jupiter moved, suggesting that Earth should behave in a similar fashion without leaving objects behind it.
Galileo also discovered that
Venus presented a complete set of phases; this was not
explained with the Ptolemaic system
6 The fall of the Ptolemaic model:
Galileo Galilei
6 The fall of the Ptolemaic model:
Galileo Galilei
In 1612 he described
sunspots, (evidence that celestial objects were not perfect) showing that
they move together
across the surface of the
Sun
6 The fall of the Ptolemaic model:
Galileo Galilei
In our era, about four hundred years after Galileo made his discoveries and more than four hundred years since his contemporary Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in part by his
vision of other worlds beyond our solar system, there prevails a peace between the Church and the scientists. For
example, the Vatican maintains a
modern Observatory staffed by several respected astronomers.
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7 On Shoulders of Giants:
Isaac Newton
Only with the work of Isaac Newton 60 years later do we understand the physics behind the empirical laws by Kepler.
Newton was born in England in 1642, the year in which Galileo died.
It was the greatest scientist of his time:
He worked in optics.
He invented the reflecting telescope
He discovered the decomposition of visible light into a spectrum of colors.
But even more important was his work on motion and gravitation (for which he had to invent calculus)
7 On Shoulders of Giants:
Isaac Newton
The Principia contains Newton’s three laws of motion.
The first law states that bodies in motion tend to stay in motion in a straight line at constant speed unless an external force acts upon them.
This is the law of inertia, which was actually discovered by Galileo.
The second law concerns the force associated with its effect on the acceleration (increase of speed) of a mass.
A larger force will make that the same mass is accelerate more (F = ma, where F is the force, m is the mass, and a is the acceleration).
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7 On Shoulders of Giants:
Isaac Newton
The third law is often enunciated as "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Rocket motion is only one of many processes explained by this law.
The Principia also includes the Law of Gravity. One application of Newton's Law of Gravity is the concept of weight.
7 On Shoulders of Giants:
Isaac Newton
One of the most famous stories of science is that an apple fell on Newton's head, leading to his discovery of the concept of gravity
Although no apple fell on Newton's head, the story that Newton himself told, years later, is that he saw an apple fall and realized that just as the apple falls to Earth, the Moon is falling toward Earth, and
keeps moving away from us. (In any short interval of time, the distance that the Earth’s Moon travels
toward the distance is compensated by the Moon’s motion forward, the result over several such intervals is a stable orbit, rather than a collision with Earth.)
7 On Shoulders of Giants:
Isaac Newton
One famous phrase from Newton is, “If I have
seen further it is by standing on the
shoulders of Giants.”
Optional slides
8 The roots of Astronomy : BABYLON
The roots of occidental Astronomy are in Caldea. The Caldeans used the sexagesimal system of positional notation (similar to the actual decimal system, but with base 60), this facilitated the development of algebra and arithmetic. From this ancient system, we have the division of the circle in 360 degrees, or the division of one hour in 60 minutes, and these into 60 seconds.
Letter to the king Asurbanipal where is detailed a lunar eclipse.
The Caldeans observed lunar eclipses and proposed the Saros series to predict the phenomena. Although they used the series only for lunar eclipses, it can be used to predict solar ones.
Planisphere, Ninive Library of Asurbanipal (800 BC)
8 The roots of Astronomy : BABYLON
Five planets known by Caldeans
Name Meaning Planet
Neberu The pivot Jupiter Delebat Which proclaims Venus Sithu, Ishtar The jumper Mercury
Kayamanu The constant Saturn Salbatanu The reddened Mars
8 The roots of Astronomy : BABYLON
Codex of Amurabi
8 The roots of Astronomy : Egypt
The sky-goddess Nut covers Geb, the Earth-god.
Nut forms the limit between Earth and
Heaven, the dead world.
The Egyptians noted than when Sirius (called Sotis) rose just before the Sun (heliac) this was coincident with the river Nile’s overflow. The desert became fertile, and for this reason, Sirius is connected with the goddess of fertility, Isis.
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8 The roots of Astronomy : Egypt
8 The roots of Astronomy : Egypt
The Egyptian
constellations of the Hellenic period are on the roof of
Hathor Temple in Denderah.
The majority have disappeared, such as the crocodile and hippopotamus.
8 The roots of Astronomy : Egypt
The buildings were oriented according to special
positions of the Sun and the stars.
8 The roots of Astronomy: ÍNDIA
The first textual mention of astronomical content is given in the religious literature of India (second
millennium BC)
During the following centuries a number of Indian astronomers studied various astronomical aspects.
8 The roots of Astronomy: ÍNDIA
The Hindu calendar used in ancient times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization, and today there are several regional
Indian calendars, as well as an Indian national calendar.
In the Hindu calendar, the day begins with sunrise. Assigned to five "properties" calls
angas.
8 The roots of Astronomy : ÍNDIA
The ecliptic is divided into 27 nakshatras which are variously called lunar houses or asterisms.
These reflect the moon's cycle against the fixed stars, from 27 to 27 ¾ hours, the fractional part being compensated by an
intercalary 28th nakshatra.
Nakshatra computation appears to have been well known at the time of the Rig Veda
(second - first millennium BC.).
Astronomical developments madein the Islamic world,
particularly during the Islamic Golden Age (eighth – fifteenth centuries), and written in
Arabic
Most were developed in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al- Andalus, North Africa, and later in the Far East and India.
8 The roots of Astronomy : ARABIA
8 The roots of Astronomy : ARABIA
The first systematic observations in Islam took place under the patronage of Al-Mamun (786-833) in many
observatories from Damascus to Baghdad:
• measured the degrees of longitude,
• established solar parameters,
• made detailed observations of the Sun, Moon and the planets
8 The roots of Astronomy : ARABIA
Tools
•Celestial globes
•Armillary spheres
•Astrolabes
•Sundials
•Quadrants
A large number of stars in the sky (e.g., Aldebaran and Altair) and
astronomical terms (e.g., alidade, azimuth,
almucantar) are still cited by their Arabic names
8 The roots of Astronomy : MAYA
The Maya were very interested in the zenithal passages, the time when the sun passes directly overhead.
The latitude of most of their cities is below the Tropic of Cancer, these
zenithal passages would occur twice a year equidistant from the solstice.
To represent this position of the sun directly overhead, the Maya had a god called "Diving God".
8 The roots of Astronomy : MAYA
Venus was the most important astronomical object for the Maya, even more than the Sun.
The Maya civilization seems to be the only pre-telescopic that
demonstrates knowledge of the Orion Nebula as a diffused, i.e., not a stellar point.
8 The roots of Astronomy : MAYA
The Maya calendar is a system of calendars and
almanacs used in the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, and in some modern Maya communities in the highlands of Guatemala and Oaxaca, Mexico.
8 The roots of Astronomy : MAYA
Although the Mesoamerican calendar did not originate with the Maya, their
subsequent extensions and improvements of it were the most sophisticated.
Together with those of the Aztecs, the Maya calendars are the best documented and most comprehensive.
8 The roots of Astronomy : AZTECAS
They were ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language dominated much of Mesoamerica in the fourteenth, fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, a period known as the last post-classic period in
Mesoamerican chronology.
From the thirteenth century the Valley of Mexico was the heart of Aztec civilization
8 The roots of astronomy : AZTECAS
The calendar is circular with four concentric circles. In the center stands the face of Tonatiuh (Sun God) holding a knife in his mouth.
The four suns or earlier eras are represented by square-shaped figures flanking the central sun.
The outer circle consists of 20 areas representing the days of each of the 18 months that comprised the Aztec calendar.
To complete the 365 days of the solar year, the Aztecs incorporated five fateful days or nemontemi.
The Aztec calendar is the oldest monolith that remains of pre-Hispanic culture.
(approx. 1479).
8 The roots of Astronomy : AZTECA
The Aztecs grouped bright stars into constellations :
Mamalhuaztli (Orion's belt), Tianquiztli (the Pleiades), Citlaltlachtli (Gemini), Citlalcolotl (Scorpion) and
Xonecuilli (The Little Dipper or the Southern Cross for others), etc.
Comets were called "the stars that smoke."
8 The roots of Astronomy : INCAS
The Inca civilization is a pre-
Columbian Andean Group. It starts at the beginning of the thirteenth century in the basin of Cuzco in Peru and then extends along the Pacific Ocean and the Andes, covering the western part of South America.
At its peak, it extends from Colombia to Argentina and Chile, through
Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
8 The roots of Astronomy : INCAS
According to the chronicles of the Spanish conquistadors, on the
outskirts of Cuzco was a large public calendar consists of 12
pillars of 5 meters, which could be seen from very far. With it, people could establish the date.
The Incas used a solar calendar for agriculture and other of moon to religious holidays .
They celebrated two major parties, the Inti Raymi and Capac Raymi, the summer solstice and winter respectively.
8 The roots of Astronomy : INCAS
The Incas considered their King, Sapa Inca, the "son of the Sun".
Major cities were drawn following celestial alignments using cardinal points.
They identified various dark areas or dark nebulae in the Milky Way as animals, and associated their appearance with the seasonal rains.
The constellations, as Yutu, the celestial toad, and the Flame of Heaven, were used by the Incas to keep pace with the seasons and events to mark the sacred events.
For example: In ancient Peru, sacrifices and black colored fires were scheduled for April and October, when the 'eyes of flame' "Alpha and Beta
Centauri" were opposed to the Sun
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8 The roots of Astronomy : INCAS
8 The roots of Astronomy : CHINA
The Chinese could be considered as the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena before the Arabs.
Detailed records of astronomical observations began during the 4th century BC. Elements of Indian astronomy reached China with the expansion of Buddhism during the dynasty of Later Han (25-220 AD), but more detailed incorporation of Indian astronomical thinking occurred during the dynasty of Tang (618-907)
8 The roots of Astronomy : CHINA
Astronomy was revitalized under the stimulus of cosmology and Western technology after the Jesuits established their missions in the 16th century.
The telescope was introduced in the seventeenth century.
Tools
Armillary sphere Celestial globe
Sphere of hydraulic fittings Celestial globe tower
8 The roots of Astronomy : CHINA
Chinese scientist Shen Kuo (1031-1095) was the first to:
- describe the magnetic compass needle
- make an accurate
measurement of the distance between the pole star and true north to be used in navigation
8 The roots of Astronomy : CHINA
Shen Kuo and Wei Pu established a nighttime astronomical project in a period of five consecutive years, a job that could rival the observations of Tycho Brahe. For this project also drew the exact coordinates of the planets in a star map and created theories of planetary motion, including retrograde motion.
8 The roots of Astronomy : CHINA
Chinese astronomy focused on observation.
They had data from the year 4000 BC, including the explosion of supernovas, eclipses and the appearance of comets.
•at 2,100 B.C. they recorded a solar eclipse
•at 1,200 B.C. they described sunspots, calling them "dark spots" in the Sun.
•at 532 B.C. They noted the appearance of a supernova in the constellation Aquila
•at 240 and 164 B.C. observed Comet Halley
8 The roots of Astronomy : CHINA
Other observations:
•determined the precession of the equinoxes in one degree every 50 years
•they observed that comet tails always point in the opposite direction to the sun's position
•in 1006 A.D. they noted the
appearance of a supernova so bright that you could see at day
•in 1054, they observed the explosion of a supernova, which later gave rise to the Crab Nebula
Many Thanks
for your attention!